Catalytic reforming



May 30, 1944. 5 DAY Er AL 2,349,812

CATALYTIC REFORMING Filed April 14, 1941 Patented May 30,

CATALYTIC REFORMING swims B. Day andrEirner a. Kanbofer. Chicago;

Ill., assignors to Universal Oil Products Company, Chicago, 11]., a corporation 01 Delaware Application April 14. 1941, Serial No. 388,464- 1 Claim, (Cl. 196--50) This invention relates to a process for the improvement of the octane number of straight run naphthas or other gasoline fractions havingrelativ'ely low bromine number. By this process the naphtha charging stock is subjected to the action of two types of catalysts in -a series. operation. The primary function of the catalyst in the first step is to dehydrogenate the'charginz stock converting the naphthenes to aromatics and a considerable portion of the parailins to oleflnic hydrocarbons.

The catalysts used in the first step oi our invention comprise some of the known dehydrogenating catalysts which have a selectivity in promoting the iormation of "olefins and which are not particularly effective in the cyclization reaction. A particularly eflectlve catalyst for this purpose is magnesite or a'mixture of zinc oxide alumina.

and chromic, oxide or lead chromate with or/ without zinc oxide. I 7

A catalyst suitable for the second step includes the well known cracking catalysts of the silica alumina type, particularly thoseprepared by chemically precipitating and purifying the hydrogels of these oxides. These silica alumina catalysts may be promoted by such substances as hydrated thoria or hydrated zirconia. These cracking catalysts may be prepared in a number of ways. According to one method the silica is precipitated from the solution as a gel and after washing to remove sodium ions, is composited with a separately precipitated hydrated alumina.

If desired, the alumina and silica may be simultaneously precipitated in the same solution by an adjustment of the hydrogen ion concentration.

The composite cracking catalystmay also be prepared by impregnating silica with aqueous solution of an activating'substance such as aluminum nitrate, zinc nitrate, thorium nitrate, or other soluble salts of these metals. The composite of hydrogels prepared according to the methods described is preferably free from alkali metal ions and is dried at a temperature of the order of 300 F. After drying at this temperature, the material may be formed into particles oi suitable size such as by extrusion or pilllng. In some cases it may be desired for purposes of economy to utilize natural occurring siliceous bases such as kaolin to ether with a minor amount of the chemically prepared and purified hydrogel. For example, a satisfactory catalyst for the olefin isomerizing step may be prepared by impregnating kaolin with aluminum nitrate solution 101- lowed by calcining the dried material. Satisfactory results may also be obtained by thoroughly incorporating a powdered kaolin with hydrated The second step of our process has been termed an olefinisomerizing step but undoubtedly there are other reactions which contribute to the oc-" tane number of the olefin containing gasoline fraction. Thus in addition to the shifting of the double bond and the migration of alkyl groups,

other reactions such as the formation of arcmatics may take place to a minor extent. We

shall not attempt a complete explanation of the beneficial eflects of treatment of the oleflnic gasoline. by catalysts oi the olefin isomerizing type such .as those prepared by calcining the purified hydrous .oxides such as hydrates of silica, alumna; zfrconia, and thoria. whichgreadily undergo change in valence under the reduction conditions of the process or the oxidation conditions of the catalysts regeneration cycle, such as those of vanadium, tungsten, uranium, iron, nickel, and cobalt are not desirable in the second stage of our process.

The process of our invention may be eonveniently described by reference to the accom- 'panying drawing which diagrammatically illustrates one 'form oi apparatus suitable'i'or conducting the process of this invention.

The charging stock for the process comprising naphtha or gasoline fraction having a low bromine numberis supplied to the system through line I and after passing through valve 2 i directed to pump 3 which discharges through line l, valve 5, to heating coil 8. The charge is heated in coil 8 bymeans of furnace I. to a temperature which may vary within the approximate limits of 850 to 1100 F. while being maintained under a pressure which may vary from atmospheric or slightly superatmospheric to about 50 or 100 pounds per square inch. The heated charging stock from which vapors form, is then 'supplied from coil 8 to line I, controlled by valve 8 from which it is directed to reactor ll. As shown in the drawing, both the dehydrogenatinz and isomerizing catalyst may be contained within the same reactor. Adiabatic reactors may be used as these have the advantage of simplicity of construction although the use of heat exchange type of reactor is comprised within the scope oi our invention- As the reaction in the dehydrogenation stage is highly endothermic, the use of such heat carrying media as steam or normally gaseous hydrocarbons may, in some cases, be desirable. The use of hydrogen to reduce the carbon formation during the dehydrogenation step is also comprlsedwlthin the scope oi our inven- Oxides of elements tion. This hydrogen may be conveniently supplied in a mixture with small quantities of normally gaseous products formed in the side reactions-ot the process. These heat carrying media or the hydrogen containing. gases do no particular harm in the olefin isomerizing step al-' though they are not needed in that stage the process. As shown in the drawing, the depth of the bed of the dehydrogenating catalyst ii, is much greater than that of the olefin isomerizing catalyst l2, the space velocity through the second bed being to times that of the first. The space velocity of the olefin isomerizing step may be one corresponding to 5 to volumes of liquid charging stock per hour per unit volume of catalyst at a temperature of 950 F.

The reaction products leaving reactor to enter line I! and after passing through valve I4, are

commingled with the assessor before the latter is supplied to the reactor.

The following examples illustrate the obtainable when utilizing .the process or my invention. A charging stock comp a 20% to ,400" boiling range naphtha of 54.5 A. P. Ijgraw ity and 42 octane number was heated to a temperature of 1002' F. and supplied to a bed of magnesite catalyst using a space velocityiof 0507 supplied to stabilizer column l5. The reaction products before entering stabilizer l5 are quenched with a hydrocarbon oil which conveniently may be an accumulation of the high boiling products formed in the process. The methods for conducting this quenching are well known in the art and for the sake of simplicity, have been omitted from the drawing.- The stabilizer column operates in the conventional manner, the

stabilizer gases being separated from the bottoms whichare removed by way of line I, valve II. The overhead from the column consists of hydrogen and light hydrocarbon gases and is directed by way or line II through valve I91 to cooler and condenser 20. The mixture of liquid together with undissolved and uncondensed gases leave condenser III b way of line 2| after passing through valve 22, enter receiver and separator I 23. The liquid cooled in receiver 23 is returned to the stabilizer for cooling and refluxing, being directed through line 24, valve 25 to pump 28 which discharges through line 21, valve 29 to the top 01' the stabilizing column. The gases collected in receiver 23 are removed by way of line 29, valve 39. As hereinbeiore set forth, a portion of these hydrogen containing gases may be and recovering the liquid volume charge per hour per unit volume The reactants from this catalyst of catalyst were then passed through the second bed of catalyst comprising a blend of silica, alumina,

zirconia in the ratio of mols of SiO: to 4Alz0:

to 22102 at a space velocity of 9.46 volumes of liquid per hour per unit volume of catalyst. Employing an adiabatic reactor, the temperature at the exit of the reactor was 980 F. Operating on the above conditions, a 92.8% yield of reformed gasoline having an octane number of 58.1 by the C. F. R. motor method, was vobtained. The ad-- dition of 1% cc. to tetraethyl lead increased this octane number to 69.9. g

We claim as our invention: A process for improving a gasoline fraction 01' relatively low antiknock value which comprises introducing the gasoline fraction to a reaction chamber containing a first bed 01" paraflin dehydrogenating catalyst-and a second bed of olefin isomerizing catalyst, maintaining the reaction chamber under paraflin dehydrogenating and oleiln isomeriz'ing conditions or temperature and pressure, passing the gasoline traction through said first bed at a space velocity suiiiclent to street substantial dehydrogenation therein, then passing the gasoline fraction through said second bed at a space velocity such as to iscmerize oleflns formed by the dehydrogenation, said second bed being or substantially lesser depth than said first bed whereby-to provide a higher space velocity in the second'bed than'in the first bed,

thus treated fraction, ROLANDEDAY. 

